WARSAW — The Kosciusko Community YMCA will be launching the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program, a national program to help those at risk for type 2 diabetes make healthy changes to prevent the onset of this epidemic disease. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 29 million adults in the United States have diabetes. This is alarming, but what’s more staggering is that 86 million adults have prediabetes, yet only 10 percent of them are aware of it. This means that one out of every three people in the community may be at high risk for type 2 diabetes and not know it.

To address the sheer number of prediabetes cases, the Kosciusko Community YMCA is partnering with the YMCA of Greater Fort Wayne to offer the national YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program in Warsaw. This program helps adults lose 5-7 percent of their body weight through healthier eating and increased physical activity that can prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes. 

The YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program is a year-long, group-based, behavior change program for adults at high risk for type 2 diabetes. The goal of the program is to help those at high risk for type 2 diabetes learn techniques and tools to make sustainable behavior changes so they can adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle and reduce their risk for developing the disease. 

The YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program uses a CDC-approved curriculum and is part of the CDC-led National Diabetes Prevention Program. Studies by the National Institutes of Health have shown that programs like ours can reduce the number of cases of type 2 diabetes by 58 percent. 

The program consists of 25 sessions delivered over one year, in a relaxed, classroom-like setting.  A trained lifestyle coach will work with a small group of participants on topics like goal setting, problem solving and physical activity. These topics are designed to help participants adopt healthy lifestyle changes by choosing better eating options, increasing physical activity and other healthy behavior changes. Programs like the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program have been shown to prevent or delay new cases of type 2 diabetes by 58 percent and as much as 71 percent in adults over the age of 60.  

The Kosciusko Community YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program will be offered from 5:45 to 6:45 p.m. on Mondays starting Sept. 24. To participate in the program, pre-registration is required. Please contact the YMCA of Greater Fort Wayne call center line at (260) 487-1030 or email [email protected]. A Y membership is not required for participation. If you need help determining if you are pre-diabetic, please take advantage of free A1c screenings offered at the YMCA in the YMCA Fitness Testing Room from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on September 10 or from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 14. Quick and easy results in five minutes or less.

To learn more about the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program visit www.kcymca.org or contact Tracy Frick at [email protected] or (574) 269-9622 x232.